SES seminar series energy
SES Seminar Explores the Shift to Renewable Energy in Illinois
This October, the School of Environmental Sustainability (SES) will hold a seminar examining the policies and processes behind the transition to renewable energy in Illinois. Anthony Star and Kelly Turner from the Illinois Power Agency (IPA) will shed light on how the state manages electricity procurement, and how the state is increasingly moving toward electricity generated from renewable sources such as wind and solar.
Join the Seminar:
- October 16, 2024
- 3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. Refreshments in the SES Atrium
- 4 p.m. – 5 p.m. Presentation in SES Room 124
The October SES seminar will feature Anthony Star and Kelly Turner from the Illinois Power Agency.
The Illinois legislature established the IPA in 2007 to develop electricity procurement plans that would ensure access to reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable electric service. The agency also administers incentives programs to promote renewable and zero-carbon energy generation. Star and Turner will discuss how the agency is facilitating the shift to a more sustainable electricity system.
Star is a senior advisor at the IPA, having previously served as agency director from 2013 through 2022 and Planning and Procurement Bureau chief from 2022 through 2024. His work at the IPA has included overseeing the development and implementation of plans and programs to procure electricity and clean energy resources for Ameren Illinois, ComEd, and MidAmerican customers. He managed the agency’s annual electricity procurement plans for energy and capacity for default service customers, Zero Emissions Credits, and Carbon Mitigation Credit procurement plans to support at-risk nuclear plants. These efforts have saved default-service customers hundreds of millions of dollars and supported the development of thousands of megawatts of new wind and solar resources.
Star previously served as a policy advisor to two chairs of the Illinois Commerce Commission. Before entering government service, he spent 13 years at the Center for Neighborhood Technology in various roles, working on energy policy and environmental sustainability, culminating in the position of director of policy and evaluation for CNT Energy. Star helped start the nation’s first residential real-time electricity pricing program as well as community-based energy efficiency and demand response programs. He holds a BA in History and an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.
Kelly Turner is the chief legal counsel of the Illinois Power Agency (IPA). In this role, she oversees a variety of legal, policy, and political responsibilities for the IPA. These involve externally facing matters (litigation, legislative work, stakeholder comment process, programs, and procurements) and internally facing affairs (ethics matters, trainings, consultant retention, audit support).
Before joining the IPA as deputy legal counsel in 2020, Turner worked as the senior attorney for the Citizens Utility Board and as a trial attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the Illinois Commerce Commission. Over the course of her career, she has developed expertise in energy and renewables procurements, utility rate-making, energy efficiency and demand response programs, administrative rulemaking, and consumer protection in energy supply and solar product marketing.
Turner is a member and a former chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Energy, Telecommunications, and Water Subcommittee. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees from Miami University and a juris doctor degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.
The Illinois legislature established the IPA in 2007 to develop electricity procurement plans that would ensure access to reliable, affordable, and environmentally sustainable electric service. The agency also administers incentives programs to promote renewable and zero-carbon energy generation. Star and Turner will discuss how the agency is facilitating the shift to a more sustainable electricity system.
Star is a senior advisor at the IPA, having previously served as agency director from 2013 through 2022 and Planning and Procurement Bureau chief from 2022 through 2024. His work at the IPA has included overseeing the development and implementation of plans and programs to procure electricity and clean energy resources for Ameren Illinois, ComEd, and MidAmerican customers. He managed the agency’s annual electricity procurement plans for energy and capacity for default service customers, Zero Emissions Credits, and Carbon Mitigation Credit procurement plans to support at-risk nuclear plants. These efforts have saved default-service customers hundreds of millions of dollars and supported the development of thousands of megawatts of new wind and solar resources.
Star previously served as a policy advisor to two chairs of the Illinois Commerce Commission. Before entering government service, he spent 13 years at the Center for Neighborhood Technology in various roles, working on energy policy and environmental sustainability, culminating in the position of director of policy and evaluation for CNT Energy. Star helped start the nation’s first residential real-time electricity pricing program as well as community-based energy efficiency and demand response programs. He holds a BA in History and an MA in Social Sciences from the University of Chicago.
Kelly Turner is the chief legal counsel of the Illinois Power Agency (IPA). In this role, she oversees a variety of legal, policy, and political responsibilities for the IPA. These involve externally facing matters (litigation, legislative work, stakeholder comment process, programs, and procurements) and internally facing affairs (ethics matters, trainings, consultant retention, audit support).
Before joining the IPA as deputy legal counsel in 2020, Turner worked as the senior attorney for the Citizens Utility Board and as a trial attorney in the Office of General Counsel at the Illinois Commerce Commission. Over the course of her career, she has developed expertise in energy and renewables procurements, utility rate-making, energy efficiency and demand response programs, administrative rulemaking, and consumer protection in energy supply and solar product marketing.
Turner is a member and a former chair of the Chicago Bar Association’s Energy, Telecommunications, and Water Subcommittee. She holds dual bachelor’s degrees from Miami University and a juris doctor degree from Chicago-Kent College of Law.